Garden Park Elementary School students and their families practice yoga poses during Family Fitness Night. COURTESY OF ANGIE BALIUS

Garden Park Elementary School students and their families recently took part in the PTA's Family Fitness Night.

The event was designed to allow participants to rotate through six stations around the school's multipurpose room; and everyone came dressed for a workout.

Agnes Lally, director of Garden Grove Unified School District food services, and her team set up a table filled with healthy snacks that included carrots, grapes and whole-grain cookies. They also displayed sample school lunches that modeled MyPlate – the current nutrition guidelines recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. MyPlate places an emphasis on consuming whole grains, lean proteins, fat-free or low-fat milk, and a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Parents and children were also encouraged to think about healthy drink choices at the “rethink your drink” booth. Popular beverages and their sugar content were on display at the booth. A hydration station next door offered cold water infused with fresh orange slices, berries and apples to encourage participants to select healthier beverage options.

Maesa Thanaritiroj, owner of Sweat Boutique Fitness in Los Alamitos, led both kids and adults through a series of activities to help them increase their heart rate, learn proper stretching techniques and have fun while exercising.

Jerry Cruise, a local yoga instructor, set up mats and conducted several 25-minute yoga sessions on the stage. Everyone from the PTA president to kindergartners got into the class and tried to hold a variety of poses, such as child's pose, downward-facing dog, cobra, warrior, tree and mountain.

Other activities were also available. Participants could make stress balls by filling balloons with sand, see how many sit ups and push-ups they could complete at the fitness challenge mats, and test their skills at Hula-Hoop and jump rope challenges.

The key to making the night a success was reaching out to community members. The school district also assisted in creating an interactive event for families.

Thanks to the generous support of Garden Park's PTA, several prizes for the raffle, along with gift cards donated by local Subway and Souplantation restaurants, were handed out.

– Angie Balius teaches sixth grade at Garden Park Elementary School in Garden Grove. She planned and organized the family fitness night.

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